Department for Transport

Network Rail: Finance

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2022 to Question 11723 on Network Rail: Finance, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on passenger safety of decisions relating to the Control Period 7 budget for Network Rail.

Wendy Morton: The budget for Control Period 7 is set through the Periodic Review Process, which culminates in the publication of the High-Level Output Specification (HLOS) and Statement of Funds Available (SoFA), which Government is required to produce by 28th October. These documents are developed following close discussion with Network Rail and the Office of Rail and Road to ensure all potential impacts are assessed, including on safety, which remains a top priority.

Railway Network: Suffolk

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his timetable is for the completion of upgrade works to Haughley Junction in Suffolk.

Wendy Morton: I will shortly set out our plans for rail enhancements across England and Wales, including Haughley Junction, in the updated Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP).

Public Transport: Tickets

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to introduce a low cost (a) weekly and (b) monthly ticket for (i) city and (ii) regional travel to help achieve modal shift in the use of transport.

Wendy Morton: Passengers can already make use of weekly and monthly season tickets that offer discounts to those travelling on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis. We have also recently introduced flexible season tickets for those who are travelling two or three days a week. Many local authorities also offer multi-modal travel schemes for their cities and region. Any changes or concessions made to rail fares policy must consider not only the effect on a certain individual or group but must also be balanced against the financial impact on fare payers in general and the public purse. Our National Bus Strategy sets out what we want to see on fares, including low flat fares (or maximum fares and daily price caps) to be the norm within cities and towns.

Railways: Anniversaries

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to celebrate the bicentenary of the passenger Railway in 2025.

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans her Department has to support and encourage celebrations of the bicentenary of the passenger railways in 2025.

Wendy Morton: Railways are a product of Britain’s rich history of engineering innovation and the 200-year anniversary is a nationally important moment to mark and celebrate. The DfT will work with the whole industry to make this a special event for workers and passengers alike.

Restoring Your Railway Fund

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bids were made as part of the Accelerating Existing Proposals category within the Restoring Your Railway Fund; and if he will publish a list of those bids.

Wendy Morton: The £500m Restoring Your Railway Fund is supporting over 45 promising schemes with the potential to level up areas and reconnect communities. We reopened the Dartmoor Line in November 2021. On 18 June 2022 we announced £15m of further development funding for nine schemes and published a Programme Update with an overview of all schemes, including Advanced Proposals and those which were part of the announcement.

Restoring Your Railway Fund: Greater London

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the Brentford to Southall rail scheme bid submitted to the Restoring Your Railway Fund.

Wendy Morton: The Brentford–Southall rail scheme bid was assessed as an Advanced Proposal as part of the Restoring Your Railway programme. I wrote to you, the co-sponsoring MP and the promoter with the outcome and feedback ahead of the announcement made on 18 June 2022.

Railway Stations: Disability

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the nomination process for the next round of the Access for All programme will open.

Wendy Morton: Nominations for the next round of Access for All (AfA) funding were formally commissioned on 17 June with a deadline of 16 September. Any station in Great Britain without an accessible route into the station and to all platforms will be a potential candidate.

Great British Railways: Location

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will announce the shortlist for the headquarters of Great British Railways before the 2022 summer recess.

Wendy Morton: Yes. Today (5 July 2022), the shortlist of towns and cities for the Great British Railways headquarters has been revealed. Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and York will compete for the honour of being crowned the home of Britain’s railways, following an expressions of interest stage that drew applications from 42 towns and cities across Great Britain. A consultative public vote will run for six weeks until 15 August and a decision on the final location will be made later this year.

Great British Railways: Location

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to review the process for selecting the headquarters of Great British Railways in the context of the time taken to announce the shortlisted locations; and if he will publish a new timetable for that selection process.

Wendy Morton: A shortlist of the most suitable locations for the headquarters of Great British Railways was announced on the 5 July 2022. Alongside this, an online consultative public vote on the shortlisted locations was launched and will be active for six weeks until 15 August 2022. The Secretary of State will confirm the successful location later this year.

Great British Railways

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of Great British Railways on levels of rail patronage.

Wendy Morton: In the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, published May 2021, we set out our plans for a more passenger focused railway that will attract passengers back to rail. Once established, Great British Railways (GBR) will provide strong unified leadership across the rail network cutting back complexity and ensuring the focus is on delivering for passengers and freight customers. GBR will have a new relationship with the private sector through new Passenger Service Contracts, designed to incentivise train operators to provide punctual and reliable services for passengers.

Department for Transport: Hospitality Industry

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Andrew Stephenson: The following table provides the total spend on hospitality for the core Department, covering financial years 2019-20 to 2021-22: Financial YearExpenditure (£’000)2019-20262020-21142021-226

Department for Transport: EU Law

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of officials in his Department involved in recording retained EU legislation for the purposes of the Retained EU Law Dashboard in the latest period for which figures are available and (b) the cost to the public purse of recording that information.

Andrew Stephenson: DfT worked with the Cabinet Office from February to June 2022 to create the Retained EU Law (REUL) dashboard. International Directorate in DfT coordinated this work with the support of policy leads from across the Department and its Agencies. All expenditure was costed within the business-as-usual budgets and there has been no additional non-pay cost to the public purse by creating the dashboard.

Electric Vehicles

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to encourage a modal shift to micromobility vehicles such as (a) e-scooters and (b) e-bikes.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to offer free local hire of micromobility vehicles such as (a) e-scooters and (b) e-bikes for trial periods.

Trudy Harrison: As part of our evaluation of the national e-scooter trials, we have been gathering information about modal shift and new journeys that have been enabled. This evidence will inform decisions about future policy for e-scooters and wider micromobility. We aim to publish the findings report from the evaluation later this year. Earlier this year we launched the national e-cycle support scheme to accelerate the uptake of e-cycles. E-scooter trials, which are live in 30 areas across England, are run by local authorities who have held their own procurement exercises to appoint e-scooter operators to provide rental services. Charges for these services are agreed in each trial area between the local authority and the operator(s). Beyond trials, final decisions on the regulation of micromobility, including their hire, have yet to be made. A number of local authorities have used DfT funding to test approaches to providing e-cycles to those with the highest need, including those that cannot benefit from the cycle to work scheme.

Driving Tests

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving test centres are due to close over the next two years in each nation of the UK.

Trudy Harrison: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is committed to providing its customers with the best service possible. The DVSA continually reviews its estate to identify any test centres that could be closed, and services relocated to a nearby site.The decision to close a test centre is made if the demand for testing can be absorbed at an existing nearby centre without reducing test capacity, cancelling tests or impacting on the DVSA’s recovery plan to reduce waiting times caused by the pandemic.

Electric Scooters: Pilot Schemes

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to extend rental e-scooter trials beyond November 2022.

Trudy Harrison: The Government has decided to allow current e-scooter trials, which are live in 30 areas across England, to be extended. The existing trials will continue to run until 30 November and participating local authorities will then have the option to end their local trial or extend it to 31 May 2024. Extensions will be restricted to existing trial areas only and will allow us to gather further evidence where gaps are identified, building on the findings of the current evaluation. We hope that all areas will want to continue, but there is no compulsion.

Department for Transport: Consultants

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stephenson: The following table provides the total published spend on consultants for the core Department and its executive agencies, covering financial years 2016-17 to 2020-21: Financial YearExpenditure (£m)2016-1750.12017-1852.52018-1912019-2077.52020-2189.1 We are in the process of producing the Department’s Annual Report which will be published in July, this will include our audited consultancy spend for 2021-22.

National Policy Statements

Anthony Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to (a) commence and (b) publish the review of the national policy statement for national networks.

Trudy Harrison: The Secretary of State for Transport announced in July 2021 that the National Policy Statement for National Networks (NNNPS) would be reviewed, and that review has commenced. The Secretary of State intends to publish a draft of a revised NNNPS for consultation soon.

Transport: North East

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on (a) a potential City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement in the North East and (b) an assessment of the potential merits of reopening the Leamside line.

Wendy Morton: The Government considers that the re-opening of the Leamside Line is best considered by North East partners as part of a future city region settlement. This settlement remains under negotiation and my Department is working closely with the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities as part of this process. I expect to receive a locally-led business case in the Autumn, at which time my officials will consider the potential benefits of re-opening the Line.

Tyres: Marine Environment

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on (a) the impact of tyre wear on and (b) steps the Government is taking to reduce levels of microplastics in the ocean.

Trudy Harrison: The development of regulations to limit emissions from tyre wear depends on the development of an internationally recognised test procedure for measuring them. This issue is being examined by the UN ECE Particle Measurement Programme (PMP), which includes DfT officials, other international governments, and the automotive industry. DfT is one of the founders of PMP and has played a leading role since its inception.To support the work of the PMP group, DfT commissioned a 3-year research project in February 2021 aimed at understanding better the measurement techniques, material properties and control parameters of non-exhaust emissions from road vehicles, which include tyre wear emissions. DfT and Defra officials collaborated in the development of the research programme and will collaborate further on the outcomes of the project, which will inform policy and legislation aiming at reducing these emissions on a domestic and international level.Furthermore, Government is continuing to invest through Innovate UK grants in emerging technologies which reduce emissions from tyre wear.

Tyres: Standards

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to ban tyres that are over ten years old from being used on roads.

Trudy Harrison: In February 2021 the Government’s amendments to the Road Vehicle (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 came into force to prohibit the use of tyres aged 10-years or more from use on the front axles of heavy goods vehicles and buses. Additionally, regulations also require the date of manufacture to be marked and legible on the sidewall of the tyre to ensure the age of the tyre is known.While this policy is expected to deliver road safety benefits for larger vehicles, on the basis of the DfT consultation in 2020 on banning ages tyres, there was insufficient evidence to justify a restriction on older tyres for all vehicle categories, but we will keep this position under review.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the (a) number of and (b) percentage increase in public electric vehicle chargers in London that would be required to help support a target of (i) 50 and (ii) 70 per cent of new vehicle purchases being electric in 2030.

Trudy Harrison: In March the Government published its electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure strategy setting out our vision and commitments to make electric vehicle charging cheaper and more convenient than refuelling at a petrol station.In the strategy we laid out our expectation that at least ten times more public chargepoints to be installed across the UK by the end of the decade, bringing the number to around 300,000 by 2030. To support our vision, we will invest £1.6 billion in accelerating the roll-out of charging infrastructure.Government has not set targets for chargepoint provision per region because the exact number and type of chargepoints will be highly dependent on local circumstances and the range and technology of future electric vehicles. Local authorities have a key role to play as they are best places to consider local needs. We will require all local transport authorities in England to develop their own chargepoint strategies, subject to consultation.The Mayor of London and Transport for London have produced their own EV Infrastructure Strategy for 2030 which was updated in December 2021. This estimates that London will need around 40,000 to 60,000 charge points by 2030, of which up to 4,000 will be rapids. This is based on there being between one and 1.4 million EVs in London, which is between 34 per cent and 49 per cent of London’s total car and van fleet.Of the £1.6 billion, at least £500 million will support local chargepoint provision to ensure that the transition to electric vehicles takes place in every part of the country, the local electric vehicle infrastructure fund (LEVI) will provide approximately £400 million of capital and £50 million of resource funding to support local authorities to work with industry and transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking. Local authorities in London will be eligible to apply for this funding.

Bus Services: Disability

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the introduction of audio-visual announcements on bus services in (a) Derbyshire and (b) the UK.

Trudy Harrison: We remain committed to making Accessible Information Regulations to require operators of local services in Great Britain to provide onboard audible and visible next stop and route and direction information to support disabled passengers. We intend to lay Accessible Information Regulations by the end of 2022 and to publish guidance for operators to support them to comply. These Regulations will apply across Great Britain, including in Derbyshire. Bus policy in Northern Ireland is generally a devolved matter. Additionally, Derbyshire County Council has been allocated indicative funding of up to £47 million to deliver on their Bus Service Improvement Plan. This will be based on their submission and implementation of an Enhanced Partnership that delivers a package of improvements to bus services.

Aviation: Carbon Emissions

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications of the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations in their report published on 29 June 2022, for the Jet Zero Strategy.

Robert Courts: We will consider recommendations from the Climate Change Committee’s June 2022 progress report in further detail as we finalise and implement our Jet Zero Strategy.Ministers and officials regularly meet with members of the CCC and considered recommendations from their June 2021 progress report in the development of the Jet Zero Consultation which was published in July 2021 and considered all available evidence for the development of the Jet Zero Strategy, which we are aiming to publish later this year.As a responsible government, we recognise that we will need to keep our strategy under review and therefore, intend to regularly assess the progress of aviation’s emissions reductions and update our strategy where necessary through five-year reviews.Our ambition is to decarbonise aviation in a way that preserves the benefits of air travel.

Leamside Line

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential economic merits for the (a) North East and (b) UK of reopening the Leamside line.

Wendy Morton: The Government considers that the re-opening of the Leamside Line is best considered by North East partners as part of a future city region settlement, which remains under negotiation. I expect to receive a locally-led business case in the Autumn, at which time my officials will consider the potential economic benefits of re-opening

Leamside Line: Domestic Visits

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) visit the Leamside line and (b) hold discussions with the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South on the potential merits of reopening that line.

Wendy Morton: While the future city region settlement remains under negotiation, I cannot comment further on this matter.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Prices

Kate Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure a competitive market for domestic energy users.

Greg Hands: The Government continues to believe that competition is the best driver of value and innovation in the energy market. However, there has been less scope for competition in the supply market during this period of high and volatile wholesale gas and electricity prices. The Government wants a retail energy market that is both resilient and competitive, with companies able to invest in innovation and offer products and services that support decarbonisation. The Government is considering what reforms are needed to retail market regulation and will set out its plans ahead of the next price cap period.

Research: Finance

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase R&D spending in the UK.

George Freeman: The Government is providing the fastest ever sustained uplift in R&D funding, reaching £20 billion per annum by the end of the SR period – £5 billion more than 2021/22 with HM Treasury committed to £22bn in 2026/7 as part of our commitment to the target of UK economy-wide R&D investment reaching 2.4% of GDP by 2027.In order to achieve 2.4% by 2027, we are mapping out the current private and public R&D investment by sector and modelling options for securing the necessary private sector investment, using a combination of policy tools across the R&D ecosystem – from innovation accelerators to the catapults, catalyst funds, and a range of fiscal incentives including R&D tax credits, the patient capital review, scale up capital taskforce, pension fund reforms and post-Brexit regulatory reform.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, further to the statement on Twitter by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 30 June 2022 that his Department had contributed to military aid for Ukraine by surrendering climate finance and foreign aid underspends, what the value of those underspends is; and which (a) areas by budget heading and (b) financial years those underspends are from.

George Freeman: Around £100m from the BEIS International Climate Finance budget in 2022-23 has been identified to be handed back to HM Treasury.

Research and Scientists: Ukraine

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support Ukrainian scientists and researchers in the UK.

George Freeman: The UK stands in solidarity with Ukraine, and we are assisting those who have been displaced and disrupted by this illegal invasion, including researchers and scientists. We have announced the Researchers at Risk Fellowship Programme, which will support Ukrainian researchers fleeing the conflict, as well as those already in the UK who are unable to return home. The ‘Researchers at Risk’ programme, which launched in March 2022, was initially allocated £3m and a further £9.8 million of funding was announced on 28 June. With this funding more than 130 Ukrainian academics will be brought to, and supported in, the UK.

Horizon Europe

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress he has made on formalising the UK’s association with Horizon Europe.

George Freeman: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central on 27 April 2022 to Question 156445.

Energy: Prices

Kate Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure that energy companies are able to offer competitive prices for (a) commercial and (b) residential premises.

Greg Hands: Contractual terms offered to businesses are a commercial matter for energy suppliers. The Government encourages businesses to shop around to find the best deal. For domestic customers, the energy price cap will continue to ensure energy prices are limited.

Carbon Emissions: Technology

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the development of new low-carbon technologies in the UK.

Greg Hands: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 25th May 2022 to Question 3766.

Nuclear Power

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the (a) development and (b) delivery of (i) new and (ii) advanced nuclear power in the UK.

Greg Hands: The Government intends to take one project to Final Investment Decision (FID) this Parliament and future projects in the next Parliament, subject to value for money and relevant approvals. The Government will set up Great British Nuclear later this year, which will help projects through every stage of the development process and develop a resilient pipeline of new builds. The Government is working with industry to scope its functions and has appointed Simon Bowen as industry advisory on the scoping of the organisation. The Future Nuclear Enabling Fund was launched in May 2022, which will provide targeted support to address barriers to entry to the nuclear market.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to (a) increase the volume of energy generated by offshore wind and (b) support the development of offshore wind technology in the UK.

Greg Hands: Electricity generated from offshore wind has increased from just under 1% of total electricity generated in 2010 to over 11% in 2021. In April 2022, the Government released the British Energy Security Strategy, where it set out a new ambition for offshore wind: from 40 GW by 2030, including 1GW of floating wind, to an ambition of 50GW, with up to 5GW from floating wind. The Government is providing £160 million to support new, large scale floating wind ports and manufacturing; and £31 million for development of innovative floating wind technologies.

Offshore Industry: Government Assistance

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the UK’s oil and gas sector.

Greg Hands: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 May 2022 to Question 3769.

Park Homes: Energy Bills Rebate

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to help ensure that people in caravan parks who are connected to utilities through the park owners will be able to receive the £400 payment through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Greg Hands: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for St Albans on 20th June 2022 to Question 18990.

Fracking

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy not to approve future fracking projects.

Greg Hands: In 2019, the Government confirmed that the pause on the exploration of shale gas reserves in England would remain in place unless and until further evidence was provided that shale gas extraction could be carried out safely. Any exploration or development of shale gas would need to meet rigorous safety and environmental protections both above ground and sub-surface. In April, the Government commissioned the British Geological Survey to undertake a review of the latest scientific evidence around shale gas extraction. This review has now been completed and the Government is considering their detailed and technical report. This report will be published in due course. The Government’s policy remains unchanged.

Fracking

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of provisions in the Energy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy Bill allowing exemptions for companies that invest in the exploration of new fossil fuel resources on fracking operations.

Greg Hands: In 2019, the Government confirmed that the pause on the exploration of shale gas reserves in England would remain in place unless and until further evidence was provided that shale gas extraction could be carried out safely. Any exploration or development of shale gas would need to meet rigorous safety and environmental protections both above ground and sub-surface. In April, the Government commissioned the British Geological Survey to undertake a review of the latest scientific evidence around shale gas extraction. This review has now been completed and the Government is considering their detailed and technical report. This report will be published in due course. The Government’s policy remains unchanged.

Business: Telephone Services

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing legal protections for consumers facing excessive call hold times when contacting businesses' customer services.

Paul Scully: High quality customer service makes commercial sense and the Government expects all businesses to treat consumers fairly. However, the Government does not seek to intervene in the detail of how businesses conduct their activities, which are essentially commercial matters. For free advice on consumer rights and how to make complaints, consumers may contact the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 (https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/) or Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 (www.consumeradvice.scot) for consumers living in Scotland.

Department of Health and Social Care

Dialysis Machines

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2022 to Question 2656 on dialysis at home, when he expects that patients receiving haemodialysis treatment at home will receive clear communications so that they are aware of their right to reimbursement from their NHS provider.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Bipolar Disorder: Diagnosis

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle delays in diagnoses of Bipolar disorder.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Free School Meals and Healthy Start Scheme

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2022 to Question 13088 on Free School Meals and Healthy Start Scheme, for what reasons he is not considering other measures to cover the period between the end of eligibility for Healthy Start and the start of free school meals.

Maggie Throup: The eligibility criteria for the Healthy Start scheme are kept under continuous review. There are no current plans to extend the eligibility criteria for the scheme by one year to cover children under the age of five. The Department is not considering other measures as it is currently prioritising the roll-out of the digitised Healthy Start service.

Dental Services and Dentistry

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) recruit NHS dentists, (b) reduce the NHS dentistry appointment backlog and (c) standardise international dentistry qualifications.

Maria Caulfield: In its ‘Advancing Dental Care Review’, Health Education made recommendations to address recruitment and retention into the National Health Service. These recommendations are being implemented through the Dental Education Reform Programme. NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver 100% of contracted units of dental activity and 100% of units of orthodontic activity to safely improve access for patients safely. We allocated an additional £50 million for NHS dentistry for the final quarter of 2021/22 to provide urgent care to patients and address the backlog. NHS England is also consulting the British Dental Association and other stakeholders on a range of improvements to the current contract which aim at increasing access for patients and reward dentists fairly for complex work.The General Dental Council (GDC) the independent regulator responsible for assessing the skills, knowledge and experience of healthcare professionals seeking to join its register who qualified outside of the United Kingdom to ensure that standards of practice are met. The Department recently consulted on legislative changes which will provide the GDC with greater flexibility on alternative routes to registration for international applicants. Officials are analysing the responses received with the intention of publishing the Government’s response later this year. The GDC will then determine how best to utilise this increased flexibility.

Oral Tobacco: Health Hazards

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned timetable is for publication of the Committee on Toxicity of Food, Consumer Products and the Environment's position on the toxicological risks associated with oral nicotine pouches.

Maggie Throup: The Committee on Toxicity of Food, Consumer Products and the Environment will consider its draft statement at its July 2022 meeting. It is estimated that a final statement will be available by autumn 2022.

Polio: Greater London

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of potential implications of the recent detection of the poliovirus in London sewage; and what assessment he has made of the potential risk of people contracting the virus.

Maggie Throup: The UK Heath Security Agency (UKHSA) is investigating poliovirus detected in sewage samples collected from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works between February and June 2022. Evidence suggests that it is likely there has been some transmission between closely linked individuals in North and East London and type 2 poliovirus is being shed in their faeces. However, the virus has only been detected in sewage samples and no associated cases of paralysis have been reported. The last case of wild polio contracted in the United Kingdom was confirmed in 1984 and the UK was declared polio-free in 2003. The risk to the public is extremely low. Vaccine-derived poliovirus has the potential to spread, particularly in communities where vaccine uptake is lower. On rare occasions it can cause paralysis in people who are not fully vaccinated. The UKHSA and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is expanding the wastewater surveillance to assess the extent of transmission and identify local areas for targeted action. An alert has been issued to health professionals to ensure that suspected cases are rapidly investigated and reported. The UKHSA is raising awareness of the need for the public to receive routine vaccinations and the National Health Service is contacting parents of children in London aged under five years old who have not received a polio vaccination.

Abortion: Analgesics

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the implications for its policies of (a) the recommendation by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' in the 2010 working party report, Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice, that the fetus does not require analgesia for interventions occurring before 24 weeks of gestation and that evidence that analgesia confers any benefit on the fetus at any gestation is lacking and (b) research published by the British Medical Journal of Medical Ethics in 2020 on Reconsidering fetal pain, supporting the possibility of fetal pain before 24 weeks.

Maggie Throup: No specific assessment has been made as the Department does not set clinical practice.The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is currently reviewing its report ‘Fetal Awareness: Review and Recommendations for Practice’. The College has established a review group to consider the latest evidence on fetal pain and fetal awareness which is expected to report on its findings by the end of 2022.

Food: Sales

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to statistics published by the Office for National Statistics on 24 June 2022, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the fall in food store sales of 1.6 per cent in May 2022 on public (a) health and (b) nutrition.

Maggie Throup: The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities monitors the available data on population diets and nutrient intakes, including through the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS). Questions on food insecurity have been included in the NDNS since April 2022. The Food Standards Agency also reviews food insecurity and other consumer-related behaviours, through its Food and You survey. However, the impact of increasing food prices and falls in food sales on population health and nutrition will not be known for some time, while sufficient data is collected and analysed.

Oral Tobacco: Regulation

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include a commitment to regulate oral nicotine pouches in either the (a) health disparities white paper or (b) updated Tobacco Control Plan for England.

Maggie Throup: Nicotine pouches are regulated under The General Product Safety Regulations 2005. During the Post Implementation Review of The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, we received submissions to further regulate these products under this framework. We will keep this under review in the development of the forthcoming health disparities white paper and Tobacco Control Plan.

Immunology: Public Health

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to use immunology to tackle (a) cancer and (b) other major public health challenges.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to use immunology to tackle (a) cancer and (b) other major public health challenges.

Maria Caulfield: The ‘Life Sciences Vision’ aims to support the development of immunotherapies for cancer. In addition, the Vision’s cancer and vaccines healthcare missions will support research to understand the potential of immunology and its response to a range of diseases.

Radioligand Therapy

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2022 to Question 18021 on Radioligand Therapy, what assessment he has made of the ability of NHS regional teams to assess providers’ ability to deliver against required standards for radioligand therapy commissioning in the absence of agreed national standards.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2022 to Question 18021 on Radioligand Therapy, if he will hold discussions with NHS leaders on steps that will be taken to help ensure that patient access to radioligand therapy is not delayed in the event that the system's capacity is not ready following any future NICE recommendations.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made. Where treatments are approved via the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) technology appraisals, NHS England and NHS Improvement seek to ensure appropriate access for patients which reflects NICE’s recommendations within the license of the treatment. Regional teams receive advice and guidance from NHS England and NHS Improvement’s specialised commissioning team.While no specific discussions are planned, NHS England and NHS Improvement recognise the potential of NICE-approved radioligand therapies and are appointing a new National Specialty Advisor for Nuclear Medicine to ensure these opportunities are realised.

Cancer: Health Services

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of treatment capacity within NHS cancer services to tackle the cancer backlog.

Maria Caulfield: The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will increase elective services, including cancer treatment, over the next three years. We are allocating more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund to increase elective activity. We will also deliver nine million additional treatments and diagnostic procedures in the next three years and approximately 30% more elective activity by 2024/25, compared to pre-pandemic levels.In 2022/23, Health Education England (HEE) is investing an additional £50 million to increase the cancer and diagnostics workforce. The Department has commissioned HEE to review long-term workforce demand and supply and NHS England will develop a long-term workforce strategy, including supply projections. The forthcoming 10 Year Cancer Plan will also ensure that the appropriate workforce is in place.

General Practitioners

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of full time equivalent GPs working in England in each of the last three years.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors in general practice in England in each of the last three years.March 202235,988March 202135,315March 202034,359 Notes:FTE refers to the proportion of full-time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. 1 would indicate they work a full set of hours (37.5), 0.5 that they worked half time. In GPs in Training Grade contracts 1 FTE equals 40 hours. The FTEs have been converted to the standard measure of 1 FTE = 37.5 hours for consistency.Figures shown do not include staff working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres, including drug rehabilitation centres, walk-in centres and other alternative settings outside of traditional general practice, such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.Data includes estimates for practices which did not provide fully valid staff records.Full Estimation: Estimates are made for both headcount and FTE for those practices which did not provide any valid data for one or more of the four staff groups (or in the case of practices providing no valid Direct Patient Care (DPC) data, DPC estimates are made for those practices also failing to provide valid data for at least one other staff group). The absence of data for a staff group could be due to poor data quality or no submitted data. For these practices, clinical commissioning group-level estimations are made.Partial Estimation: In some cases, practices provide valid records about their staff but do not include information about their working hours. In these cases, we retain the record and calculate estimates for their working hours and full-time equivalence based upon the national averages for the job role. These figures are referred to as ‘partial estimates’, and the scale of these estimates varies by staff group.

Wales Office

Levelling Up Fund: Wales

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the implementation of the Levelling Up Fund in Wales.

David T C Davies: I have regular discussions with colleagues across Government to ensure the Levelling Up Fund benefits communities across Wales. Here at the Wales Office, my colleagues and I have been delighted that Wales has received 7% of the total UK funding for round one. This means that Wales will see an investment of £120 million on projects spread across the length and breadth of Wales.

British Constitution: Reform

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with devolved Administrations on potential constitutional reform.

Simon Hart: I have not had any discussions with the Welsh Government on constitutional reform. Nor have I had any discussions on constitutional reform with businesses, charities, stakeholders, voters, or investors. As we recover from the pandemic and devote ourselves to helping with Ukraine this is the last thing any sane person thinks is a priority.

Police: Wales

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy on Welsh police forces.

David T C Davies: Skills Policy is a devolved matter and therefore I would strongly encourage Welsh Government to reconsider its own Apprenticeship Framework to ensure the Welsh forces are not disadvantaged. The UK Government however recognises this issue and therefore this year have allocated £2.4 million to Welsh forces to address this matter.

UK Trade with EU

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effect of leaving the EU single market and customs union on the economies of devolved nations.

David T C Davies: We have left the EU Single Market and Customs Union. The matter is settled.The whole of the United Kingdom has the best of both worlds, demonstrated by firstly the continued access to the EU market but more importantly, the ability to freely enter into Free Trade Agreements with countries across the world.

Ministry of Justice

Community Orders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2022 to Question 25871 on Community Orders, how many hours of Community Payback is yet to be delivered in each (a) region of (i) England and (ii) Wales and (b) probation service area in the latest period for which figures are available.

Kit Malthouse: The below table provides a breakdown of the number of hours on the Community Payback caseload by Probation region as of 27/06/22.It outlines the number of hours handed down by the courts (including recently sentenced hours) which still need to be worked.This Government is committed to ensuring that offenders work all of their sentenced hours, subject to judicial decision.We are boosting the number of hours offenders spend doing tough Community Payback, such as cleaning up public places, by nearly two thirds – from five million to eight million hours a year. Probation Area Caseload of Community Payback Hours East Midlands Region 374,615.8 Derby City21,928.1Derbyshire34,234.6Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland75,605.6Lincolnshire East and West15,007.0Nottingham City35,591.2Nottinghamshire34,131.6Other East Midlands Region158,117.8East of England 513,991.2 Bedfordshire36,741.5Cambridgeshire and Peterborough43,474.3Essex North110,644.2Essex South91,922.3Hertfordshire36,568.8Norfolk63,515.4Northamptonshire66,600.7Suffolk63,303.0Other East of England1,221.0Greater Manchester 345,023.9 Bolton27,752.0Bury and Rochdale35,672.8Manchester North40,585.8Manchester South31,889.0Oldham25,090.9Salford22,014.8Stockport and Trafford31,438.0Tameside22,011.4Wigan24,482.7Other Greater Manchester84,086.6Kent Surrey Sussex Region 360,166.8 Brighton and East Sussex58,613.7East Kent67,102.1Surrey60,347.2West Kent119,825.7West Sussex52,913.1Other Kent Surrey Sussex Region1,365.0London 849,204.5 Barking and Dagenham and Havering51,914.4Brent34,225.1Camden, Islington30,109.5Croydon31,883.7Ealing and Hillingdon31,754.2Enfield and Haringey45,730.7Greenwich and Bexley39,660.6Hackney and City29,639.2Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster32,480.9Harrow and Barnet31,241.9Kingston, Richmond and Hounslow32,074.2Lambeth23,328.0Lewisham and Bromley46,789.7Newham44,479.2Redbridge and Waltham Forest51,924.6Southwark23,016.5Tower Hamlets37,316.6Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton36,975.2Other London194,660.5North East Region 200,402.0 County Durham and Darlington19,739.1Gateshead and South Tyneside25,418.2Newcastle Upon Tyne15,074.0North Tyneside and Northumberland29,707.0Redcar, Cleveland and Middlesbrough19,154.6Stockton and Hartlepool16,397.1Sunderland15,017.1Other North East Region59,895.0North West Region 510,398.6 Blackburn and Darwen9,884.5Central Lancashire29,460.6Cheshire East28,540.1Cheshire West28,792.8Cumbria31,000.5East Lancashire23,942.1Halton and Warrington29,306.8Knowsley and St Helens26,413.9Liverpool North34,095.5Liverpool South34,535.0North West Lancashire39,715.8Sefton22,513.4Wirral37,475.1Other North West Region134,722.5South Central 351,656.0 Buckinghamshire and M Keynes48,551.6East Berkshire33,317.7Hampshire North and East52,774.2Oxfordshire23,929.4Portsmouth and IoW26,117.5Southampton, Eastleigh and New Forest34,784.8West Berkshire37,259.3Other South Central94,921.6South West 404,434.6 Bath and North Somerset19,903.4Bristol and South Gloucestershire103,488.5Cornwall and Isles of Scilly18,229.2Devon and Torbay32,491.9Dorset73,086.3Gloucestershire34,267.2Plymouth27,462.6Somerset38,190.9Swindon and Wiltshire56,374.5Other South West940.0Wales 304,529.4 Cardiff and Vale66,898.9Cwm Taf Morgannwg45,412.0Dyfed Powys38,891.4Gwent36,714.0North Wales85,236.0Swansea, Neath Port-Talbot28,893.7Other Wales2,483.5West Midlands Region 403,012.7 Birmingham Central and South54,245.5Birmingham North, East and Solihull45,832.5Coventry46,190.4Dudley and Sandwell19,188.1Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford15,311.3Staffordshire and Stoke52,068.8Walsall and Wolverhampton33,985.5Warwickshire29,432.8Worcestershire16,994.1Other West Midlands Region89,763.8Yorkshire and The Humber 688,056.9 Barnsley and Rotherham48,170.6Bradford and Calderdale168,798.6Doncaster34,181.4Hull and East Riding60,515.0Kirklees65,751.8Leeds128,704.2North and North East Lincs27,857.2North Yorkshire44,007.4Sheffield44,698.1Wakefield49,025.5York15,075.6Other Yorkshire and The Humber1,271.7Grand Total 5,305,492.4 Data as at 27/06/2022. It is worth noting that some recording of hours sentenced or worked takes place retrospectively and therefore won't be included in this data.Data is sourced from nDelius and while this data has been assured as much as practical, as with any large administrative dataset, the data should not be assumed to be accurate to the last value presented.Cases held in an 'Other' Delivery Unit include cases held by a Region-wide Community Payback function, cases held in the region's enforcement function, or cases pending allocation to a Probation Delivery Unit.

Courts

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to modernise the courts system.

James Cartlidge: We are investing £1.3bn to transform the justice system, introducing 21st Century technology and online services to increase access to justice, improve efficiency and modernise the courts.We have already delivered eight digital services, allowing people to apply online for cases in immigration and asylum, divorce, probate, civil money claims, benefit decision appeals in the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal, and local authority child welfare applications in the Family Court. We are also rolling out a new digital system in the criminal courts which gives all parties involved in criminal cases access to case information and enabling magistrates' courts to handle minor offences in a quicker and easier way.Having supported the rapid deployment of video-enabled court and tribunal hearings building on the early work of the programme, we are releasing a bespoke video hearings service, enabling fully remote and hybrid hearings to take place across all jurisdictions. Parties to cases and lawyers are able to attend hearings remotely where appropriate, saving time, effort and cost.Reform is on track to complete in 2023 and will deliver further digitisation of services before closure. This will include delivering services for adoption, the Employment Tribunal, and other tribunals covering case types including special educational needs and mental health.The digital reforms and simplified services are removing simple cases from court, cutting down unnecessary paperwork and helping some of the most vulnerable people facing difficult situations get justice as quickly as possible. This is also critical to enabling us to recover workloads in courts and tribunals which are still experiencing impacts from the pandemic.

Ministry of Justice: Official Hospitality

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

James Cartlidge: The cost breakdown of hospitality spend for MoJ is set out in the table below. 2019/202020/212021/22Hospitality£48,865.22£3,126.91£20,648.07Catering for both internal and external meetings is subject to MoJ spending controls and requires approval at Deputy Director level or above. Spend of this nature will only be approved where there is a clear value for money case.

Rape: Prosecutions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State in response to the Urgent Question of 28 June 2022 on prosecution of incidences of rape, if he will take steps to strengthen the understanding of consent and evidencing the absence of consent in rape cases.

James Cartlidge: As part of the Rape Review action plan, the Law Commission is conducting an independent review of the law, guidance and practice relating to the trial process in prosecutions of sexual offences, including rape, with one aim being to better support understanding of consent and misconceptions about sexual harm. As part of this project, the Law Commission will also consider how law and guidance can counter jurors’ misconceptions about sexual harm (“rape myths”) in relation to the credibility, behaviour and experience of complainants and defendants.We await the results of the Law Commission’s review, and will carefully consider how the findings can contribute towards this government’s ambition to improve the treatment of victims, boost successful rape prosecutions, whilst also ensuring that defendants receive a fair trial.In the meantime, to help address the attitudes and behaviours that can underpin these violent crimes, this Spring the government launched ‘Enough’: a new nationwide communications campaign which aims to challenge perpetrators and the harmful attitudes that exist within wider society, educate young people about healthy relationships and ensure victims can access support.

Rape: Victim Support Schemes

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to bring forward additional support services for survivors of rape.

James Cartlidge: Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes that can have life-long impacts on victims and survivors. Following the publication of the End to End Rape Review Action Plan last year, this Government has committed to ensuring that every victim of rape and sexual assault will have access to quality support, appropriate to their needs, when they need it. We have increased the funding for victim and witness support services to £192 million by 2024/25. This represents an uplift of 92% on core budgets in 2020/21. We are using additional ringfenced funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) by 300 to over 1000 by 2024/25 - a 43% increase on the number of ISVAs and IDVAs over the next three years.This Government provides core funding through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund to over 75 support services run by independent organisations across England and Wales. Funding has been extended until March 2023 whilst we undertake targeted research with rape victim-survivors to better understand their support needs, both within and outside the criminal justice system, to inform the recommissioning of these services.In addition, this Government is establishing a remote, national 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Service. This will be a free support service to all victims and survivors aged 16 and over across England and Wales, operating 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Support will be available through website, webchat, online resources, and telephone helpline.To support victims at the court stage, this Government has also announced a pilot of enhanced specialist sexual violence support in the Crown Court. The pilot will run in three Crown Court centres – Snaresbrook in London, Leeds, and Newcastle – which we have chosen because of the high volume of sexual offences cases they are tackling. These court centres will be enabled with the technology to allow victims to give pre-recorded evidence, so they are not retraumatised by giving evidence in a live trial, with court staff who have received trauma-informed training available.

Youth Custody: Travellers

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Gypsy, (b) Roma and (c) Traveller children are in the youth secure estate as on 28 June 2022.

James Cartlidge: Data on the ethnic makeup of the youth estate population is published annually as part of the Youth justice statistics series and monthly as part of the Youth Custody Report. These publications, however, do not include details of traveller categories. There are no current plans to alter the ethnic groups for these publications. The broad categories included in the information released are in line with current guidance from the Race Disparity Unit of the Cabinet Office.As of 28 June 2022, there were 16 children and young people in custody who self-designated as either white, other ethnic group, any other or white, Gypsy or Irish Traveller.

Ministry of Justice: Consultants

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: I refer the honourable member to the answers given to PQ 11689 on 8th June 2022 and PQ 18922 on 20th June 2022.

Rented Housing: Legal Advice

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to provide tenants in the (a) private rented and (b) social rented sector with free legal advice on issues with their accommodation.

James Cartlidge: We are expanding the scope of legal aid to ensure that free early legal advice for those at risk of losing their home is available on a wider range of issues than is currently the case. We are also launching an early legal advice pilot this summer to test the impact of early social welfare advice on resolving problems quicker, including problems with accommodation that could escalate into more serious issues such as repossession.

Department for International Trade

Export Credit Guarantees

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to UK Export Finance: jobs supported analysis 2020-21, published on 22 June 2021, how many of the estimated (a) 107,000 jobs supported in the UK in 2020-21 and (b) 72,000 jobs supported in the UK in 2021-22 by UK Export Finance were attributable to the provision of Export Development Guarantees.

Mike Freer: Using the methodology explained in detail on GOV.uk, the number of jobs estimated to have been supported by UK Export Finance through general working capital schemes (which comprises General Export Facility and Export Development Guarantee products) for the years 2020/21 and 2021/22 were 76,000 and 40,000 respectively. Further information on the methodology applied can be found online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-export-finance-jobs-supported-2020-to-2021/uk-export-finance-jobs-supported-analysis-2020-21 and www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-export-finance-economic-impacts-of-our-support-2021-22/uk-export-finance-economic-impacts-of-our-support-2021-22.

Exports: Military Aircraft

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with her counterparts in (a) Europe, (b) the Middle East and (c) Asia on procurement of the (i) Eurofighter Typhoon and (ii) other defence aircraft which were designed and manufactured in the UK.

Mike Freer: I refer the Hon. Member for Preston to the answer given by my Hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Defence Procurement on 1 July 2022, UIN: 25739.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

China: Russia

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to impose secondary sanctions on Chinese firms who are believed to have violated sanctions on Russia by providing military equipment or other support.

Vicky Ford: In lockstep with our allies, we have introduced the largest and most severe economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced, to help cripple Putin's war machine. We have now sanctioned over 1000 individuals and over 100 entities since Putin's invasion of Ukraine.HMG takes reports or allegations of breaches or evasion of sanctions very seriously. The FCDO works closely with the relevant cross government enforcement bodies to ensure the robust implementation of sanctions.The UK continues to engage with China at all levels in Beijing, London and at the UN to make it clear that the world is watching what China chooses to say and do - whether their actions contribute to peace and stability, or it chooses to fuel aggression.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Public Expenditure

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason no transparency data has been published for her Department’s monthly spending over £25,000 beyond the end of September 2021, as of the end of June 2022.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason no transparency data has been published for her Department’s monthly spending over £500 using electronic purchasing cards beyond the end of October 2021, as of the end of June 2022.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason no transparency data has been published by her Department for ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings beyond the end of September 2021, as of the end of June 2022.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason no transparency data has been published by her Department for special advisers gifts, hospitality and meetings beyond the end of September 2021, as of the end of June 2022.

Vicky Ford: All FCDO transparency and freedom of information releases are published on Gov.uk. FCDO is committed to transparency and is working to ensure we are up to date with these publications.

Sri Lanka: Economic Situation

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to work with the international community to alleviate poverty caused by the Sri Lankan economic crisis.

Vicky Ford: The UK is closely monitoring the situation in Sri Lanka, particularly as it relates to food insecurity and livelihoods. We are working to support the UN and its agencies in their coordinated response based on the UN's recent joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities (HNP) Plan, launched on 9 June. This called for US$47.2 million to provide life-saving assistance to 1.7 million people who are most at risk and need immediate support.The UK contributes to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) Operation in Sri Lanka. The DREF is supporting the Sri Lanka Red Cross with an allocation of CHF691,002 in response to shortages and civil unrest. The World Bank, of which the UK is a major donor, has announced over US$400 million of assistance to provide economic and health sector support.The UK recognises the difficult economic situation and welcomes the ongoing in-depth discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on reforms needed to bring the economy back to a sustainable path. The Prime Minister spoke to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe on 30 May, and underlined the UK's continued support for the people of Sri Lanka during their current economic difficulties.

Private Infrastructure Development Group

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding her Department disbursed through the Private Infrastructure Development Group from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2022.

Vicky Ford: The FCDO has disbursed a total of £297,678,27 to the Private Infrastructure Development Group in the period from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2022.

Private Infrastructure Development Group

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funding her Department plans to allocate through the Private Infrastructure Development Group in each of the next three financial years.

Vicky Ford: Subject to final agreements being put in place, the FCDO currently anticipates making available to the Private Infrastructure Development Group funding of £61,000,000 (sixty one million, pounds sterling) for the financial year 2022/2023. Funding decisions for financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25 are being considered as part of broader Official Development Assistance (ODA) resource allocation discussions.

Hashem Abedi and Salman Abedi

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information her Department holds on whether Salman and Hashem Abedi were debriefed following their evacuation from Libya by the Royal Navy in August 2014.

James Cleverly: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not comment on matters of national security.The first volume of the Chair's findings of the Manchester Arena Inquiry was published in June 2021, with volumes 2 and 3 scheduled for publication later in 2022. Further information can be found on the Inquiry's website: manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk

Iraq: Kurds

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the relationship between the Federal Government in Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Amanda Milling: We continue to work with both Baghdad and Erbil, and encourage both sides to work towards resolving their differences in line with the Iraqi constitution. We want to see a strong and successful Kurdistan region within a thriving and multicultural Iraq.

Iraq: Kurds

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the strength of the bilateral relationship between the UK and the Kurdistan region in Iraq; and if she will make a statement.

Amanda Milling: We have a close and strategic relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. The Kurdistan Regional Government is a close ally in the fight against Daesh and we continue to cooperate closely on security and wider issues. UK Ministerial engagement is strong. The President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, visited the UK in September 2021. In April 2022, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Masrour Barzani, visited the UK. Both met the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, amongst others.

Development Aid

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what financial commitment she plans to make to the 7th replenishment of the Global Fund.

Amanda Milling: The Global Fund is a high performing organisation that, with partners, has saved 44 million lives to date. The UK is proud to be the organisations third largest donor historically, investing £4.1 billion since 2002. As set out in the International Development Strategy (IDS), global health will remain a top priority. The UK has not yet determined our pledge to the Global Fund's 7th replenishment. We are currently reviewing the Global Fund's 7th replenishment investment case in line with delivering the IDS. The Global Fund remains a key partner to the UK in the shared fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.

Ukraine: Cereals

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the debate which took place at the Council of Europe on 23 June 2022 entitled Consequences of the blockade of the Black Sea.

James Cleverly: The UK Government is working with the international community to hold Russia to account over its blockade of the Black Sea. The UK strongly supports UN efforts to unlock the export of Ukrainian grain and find practical ways to open up commercial shipping routes. We are also working with the EU to increase the volume of grain exported by rail. We will continue to fund humanitarian aid and economic support for those that need it most, protecting them from the fallout of Russian aggression. We recognise the work of the Council of Europe and in particular Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe, and note that recommendations will go to the Committee of Ministers in due course.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications the armed forces have received from women in each of the last ten years.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications the armed forces have received from men in each of the last ten years.

Leo Docherty: The requested information is provided in the attached spreadsheets.Apllications by Gender (xlsx, 28.3KB)

Army: Data Protection

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any personnel information was accessed during the data breach of the Army’s social media accounts on 3 July 2022.

Leo Docherty: No personnel information was accessed as a result of the Army's Twitter and Youtube accounts being compromised.

Armed Forces: Children

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of children who will benefit from the expansion of the Wraparound Childcare Scheme.

Leo Docherty: Defence recognises the integral role of its Service personnel in meeting Defence outputs. It also acknowledges the importance of a robust childcare support system in enabling the mobility, recruitment and retention of a capable workforce of motivated personnel. A good childcare support system also benefits the social, emotional and educational development of Service children and young people.The Wraparound Childcare (WAC) scheme is designed to help Service personnel with dependent primary school aged children by funding their WAC in order to mitigate the potential disruption that Service life can sometimes cause. The scheme will assist those who are most likely to be impacted by issues of mobility and deployment and is open to all UK based Armed Forces families where the Service person has either an assignment order to a UK based unit or is serving overseas unaccompanied (involuntarily) with the family resident in the UK.Within the first year of a full UK rollout of the WAC scheme it is estimated that up to twenty thousand children could benefit from the scheme.

Armed Forces: Food

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long the freeze on the daily food charge for armed forces personnel will last for.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long the one per cent cap on the armed forces accommodation will last for.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence anticipates that the current freeze on the daily food charge will apply for financial year 2022-23. The Department will seek to ensure standards in food quality and quantity are maintained whilst working with our Industry Partners to explore delivery options during this period of unprecedented food cost inflation. Decisions on the daily food charge beyond this date will be made nearer the appropriate time.Accommodation charges are reviewed annually by the Armed Forces Pay Review Board and the decision to cap the increase to service provided accommodation at 1% will apply for financial year 2022-23. Decisions on accommodation charges beyond this date will be based on the evidence presented in the next pay round.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2022 to Question 18825 on Armed Forces Compensation Scheme: Appeals, how many staff work on the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme as of 29 June 2022.

Leo Docherty: The total Full Time Equivalent (FTE) number of staff that work only on Armed Forces Compensation Scheme claims and appeals as of 29 June 2022 is 45.88.These staff are supported by 20.16 FTE Administrative Officer and Administrative Assistant grade staff undertaking administrative support roles across both AFCS and the War Pension Scheme.

Ministry of Defence: Official Hospitality

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Leo Docherty: The figures provided for Entertainment and Hospitality for both financial year 2020-21 and 2021-22 are as follows. Figures for financial year 2022-23 figures will be available once the accounts have been finalised.2020-21 - £1.533 million2019-20 - £ 3.366 million

Armed Forces: Separated People

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of support available to families and partners of members of the armed forces upon the breakdown of their relationship.

Leo Docherty: As stated in the newly published UK Armed Forces Families Strategy, we are committed to supporting all types of family across the Armed Forces community. The Strategy and associated action plan have been developed from a robust evidence base and are the result of wide stakeholder engagement. The need to promote inclusivity and encourage an increasingly diverse Armed Forces is a central tenet of the Strategy, and supporting families going through relationship breakdown is explicitly referenced. Every relationship breakdown is different but when the couple have reached the decision to notify their unit of a permanent separation, the serving person, as the licence holder for the Service Family Accommodation (SFA) and the partner with the entitlement to service provided accommodation, is obligated to inform the Loss of Entitlement Team who will issue the 93-day Notice To Vacate (NTV). The policies we have in place are focused on supporting non-serving partners’ transition to the next phase of their life and, where the service person also stands to lose their entitlement to families’ accommodation, supporting them to move into Single Living Accommodation (SLA). This is often a very stressful time for both partners and of course, if relevant, children who are impacted by the relationship breakdown. In recognition of this, a Proportionality Exercise is conducted at the same time as the NTV is issued to determine if there are factors to warrant occupation beyond the 93-day period which will include schooling, medical or welfare needs. During this initial 93 days the non-serving partner is not liable for accommodation charges as these remain with the licence holder and the Loss of Entitlement Team will work with our welfare agencies to look at available options. Emergency housing is provided by Defence’s Cotswold Centre for those returning from overseas or experiencing Domestic Abuse, along with contact houses for service personnel to have custody and time with their children in a safe and suitable environment. Joint Service Publication (JSP) 100, Defence Holistic Transition policy, supports referral or self-referrals of partners and spouses of Service personnel to Defence Transition Services (DTS) which delivers a full range of transition support, providing tailored information and guidance. DTS can help with issues and provide support and guidance on subjects including health, accommodation, relocation, finance, training, education, and employment. Those who are supported by DTS would be referred to a Local Authority if there was a risk of homelessness. The Ministry of Defence also works with the charitable sector at the community level to identify those in need of relationship support, improving awareness of existing provision and signposting to services. In addition, work is ongoing to promote understanding of Armed Forces life in the Family Courts system.

Ukraine: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the training of Ukrainian soldiers arriving in the UK is planned to take place.

James Heappey: The written statement (HCWS182), released by the Secretary of State for Defence on 5 July 2022 on our continued support to Ukraine, confirmed Ukrainian soldiers will be trained at military sites in the North East, South West and South East of England.Continued Support to Ukraine (docx, 16.8KB)

Typhoon Aircraft

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Typhoon jets have been in service each year since 2010.

Jeremy Quin: The attached table contains the requested information from published sources (the National Statistic publication ‘Military Formations, Vessels and Aircraft’ from 2010-2014 and the National Statistic publication ‘UK armed forces equipment and formations’ for 2016-2021). No number was published for 2015.Typhoon Jets in Service (pdf, 48.2KB)

Defence: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether existing Invitation to Negotiate arrangements in the contracts awarded by his Department purport to prohibit contracting organisations from engaging with parliamentary select committees.

Jeremy Quin: It is Ministry of Defence policy to use standard contract conditions to prevent the unauthorised disclosure of information for a variety of reasons, including protection of national security, commercial confidentiality and personal data, and for there to be obligations on confidentiality in our invitations to tender. However, there is nothing in the standard commercial policy or processes that prohibits contracting organisations from engaging with parliamentary select committees. If a committee requested information, the disclosure of which might be prohibited under contractual arrangements, this would require careful consideration on a case-by-case basis.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Quin: The Department maintains a central record of overall Consultancy expenditure.The value for all Consultancy, by financial year, since 2016 are as follows: FY2020-21 £109.668 millionFY2019-20 £98.080 millionFY2018-19 £116.914 millionFY2017-18 £49.955 millionFY2016-17 £60.500 million

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2022 to Question 16820 on Universal Credit, if she will place a copy of the Social Security Advisory Committee’s formal reference report on a framework of oversight, reporting and scrutiny for implementation of the draft Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Amendment Regulations 2022 in the Library.

David Rutley: The Social Security Advisory Committee’s report dated 26 May 2022 on the Draft Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Amendment Regulations 2022, is available in the House of Commons Library and was published online on Welcome to GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) alongside the Secretary of State’s response.

Housing Benefit: Cost of Living

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make housing benefit claimants eligible for the £650 cost of living payment.

David Rutley: Housing Benefit is not an income replacement means tested benefit. It is also administered directly from Local Authorities, often directly to a landlord. However, the vast majority of Housing Benefit claimants will be eligible for the £650 Cost of Living Payment through a separate means tested benefit entitlement. Pensioners on Housing Benefit will also be entitled to the increased winter fuel payment of £300 per household. For those that are not eligible for the means-tested cost of living payment, or for families that still need additional support; the Government is providing an additional £500 million to help households bringing total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, this will take the form of an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m and is administered by Local Authorities. Devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula. These payments are part of the Government’s wider £15 billion package of support and sits alongside: the £400 of support for energy bills that the Government is providing through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme, doubling the £200 of support announced earlier this year and making the whole £400 a non-repayable grant. new support, people on low incomes but not means-tested benefits may also benefit from previously announced measures to help people tackle the cost of living, including frozen fuel duty, raising the NICs threshold, £150 council tax rebates and the further rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour from April 2022. The guidance with the full list of support can be found at:Cost of living support factsheet: 26 May 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Universal Credit: Costs

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of migrating people to Universal Credit.

David Rutley: UC provides significant improvements and efficiencies compared to the legacy systems it replaces. The Programmes Full Life Costs, forecast the running costs of UC at £13,547m compared to projected equivalent Legacy running costs of £15,400m. This presents a net saving of £1,853m over the 10-year period which runs from 2017/18 to 2026/27.

Universal Credit: Families

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of automatic deductions from Universal Credit on families' financial wellbeing.

David Rutley: Deductions from Universal Credit are made to protect claimants who have priority debts, ensure social obligations are met and recover taxpayer money. We have to strike the right balance between ensuring those protections are in place and allowing claimants to retain as much of their award as possible for day-to-day needs.The standard deductions cap has been reduced three times – from 40% to 30% to 25%. This has helped hundreds of thousands of UC claimants to retain more of their award.  Reducing the standard cap below 25% would reduce the range of debts a claimants could address, and risk vital obligations (such as Child Maintenance payments) not being made at all.Claimants can contact DWP Debt management if they are experiencing financial hardship, to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment or a temporary suspension,depending on their financial circumstances.

Universal Credit: Standards

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what safeguards her Department has put in place to minimise errors during the Universal Credit migration process.

David Rutley: We have begun to move small, controlled volumes through the managed migration process, starting with 500 legacy benefit claimants in Bolton and Medway. Optimising our support for claimants in moving to Universal Credit will be a critical part of the managed migration process. The department will work closely with our stakeholder groups throughout this work to monitor and understand what support is required and what works bests for claimants.

Universal Credit

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who will receive a reduced benefit award after migrating to Universal Credit.

David Rutley: Parliament has committed to providing transitional financial protection for those who are moved onto Universal Credit through the managed migration process. This means those eligible households with a lower calculated award in Universal Credit than their legacy benefits awards will see no difference in their entitlement at the point they are moved to Universal Credit, provided there is no change in their circumstances during the migration process. Relevant figures are included in the Department for Work and Pension’s policy paper, ‘Completing the Move to Universal Credit.’

Universal Credit: Disability

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department offers additional support to people with complex disabilities through the migration process to Universal Credit.

David Rutley: We recently restarted work to design and deliver a service for claimants to move to Universal Credit. The first phase is Discovery with controlled small volumes; during this phase we will work with small numbers of claimants to learn how best to ensure a smooth transition to Universal Credit and identify what support claimants need to make their claim to Universal Credit. A variety of support is currently in place for those issued with migration notices, including for individuals with health conditions and disabilities. Our current support consists of:A dedicated phoneline.Further guidance on Welcome to GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Specially trained staff in JCP’s and service centres who can identify local tailored support; andIndependent support through the Help to Claim service. As we progress through the discovery phase, we are keen to understand what additional support is required for people to make their claim to Universal Credit. The Department also holds regular engagement sessions with a broad range of external stakeholders, including in the health and disability sector in order to seek their feedback and input into the process.

Universal Credit

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what protections her Department has put in place for people undergoing managed migration to Universal Credit.

David Rutley: Our overarching analysis shows that at the benefit point of migration, the vast majority of claimants will either be better off, or at the very least retain the same entitlement, thanks to transitional protection. Transitional Protection ensures that eligible claimants do not have a lower entitlement, to Universal Credit than their legacy benefit entitlement at the point they move to Universal Credit. Claimants moving to Universal Credit will also receive a two-week run on of Jobseeker’s Allowance (income based), Employment and Support Allowance (income related), Income Support and Housing Benefit before they receive their first payment of Universal Credit.

Universal Credit

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people who have migrated to Universal Credit as a result of a change of circumstances without transitional protection.

David Rutley: We do not centrally collate the number of claimants that have made a claim for Universal Credit as a result of a change in circumstances. Data relating to Universal Credit at national, regional and constituency level is published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance for users is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Pension Credit: Rural Areas

Cherilyn Mackrory: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to increase pension credit uptake in rural areas.

Guy Opperman: We have undertaken a range of actions to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up across the whole of the country. On 21 March I wrote to the editors of all regional newspapers across England, Scotland and Wales calling on readers to check if they could be eligible and make a claim. On 3 April DWP launched a comprehensive Pension Credit take-up campaign. We have been promoting Pension Credit in a variety of ways – including print advertising and promotion in the national press, across social media, via internet search engines and on screens in Post Offices and GP surgeries across Great Britain. I also wrote to all MPs, urging them to support the campaign at a constituency level as MPs are well placed to promote Pension Credit locally. Our digital toolkit has been updated with information and resources, as well as leaflets and posters which advice organisations, charities and other stakeholders working across local communities can use to help promote Pension Credit. Most recently, on 15 June DWP held another Pension Credit day of action with broadcasters, regional and national newspapers and other partners encouraged to reach out to pensioners, as well their family and friends, through their channels.

Social Security Benefits

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she last reviewed the benefit cap.

David Rutley: There is a statutory duty to review the levels every 5 years . The last time the Benefit cap was reviewed was November 2016.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Puffins: Conservation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of National Trust Jersey and Birds on the Edge’s initiative to reintroduce puffins to breeding sites in Jersey; and whether his Department has taken recent steps to support the conservation of puffins in the UK.

Rebecca Pow: As Jersey is a Crown Dependency, it would not be appropriate for the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to assess initiatives in Jersey.The UK's seabirds, including puffins, are an important part of our natural heritage, and the government is committed to protecting them. Defra is working with Natural England to develop a comprehensive English Seabird Conservation Strategy (ESCS). This strategy will provide an assessment of the vulnerability of seabird species in light of the pressures they are facing and propose a comprehensive set of actions to address them. We are aiming to publish a final ESCS in spring 2023.We are also working to minimise and, where possible, eliminate the accidental bycatch of seabirds in fishing gear. Defra and the Devolved Administrations are working to finalise the UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative, which will be published shortly.

Marine Animals: North Sea

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has received increased reports of malnourished marine mammals along the North Sea coast since July 2022.

Rebecca Pow: Causes of death of stranded marine mammals are monitored and investigated through the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) and Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS).We have not received any reports which suggest an increase in malnourished marine mammals since July 2021. Strandings will continue to be monitored and investigated through the CSIP and SMASS. Annual reports are published and available publicly.

Home Office

UK Visas and Immigration: Standards

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure all enquiries to UK Visa and Immigration are actioned and dealt with in a timely manner.

Kevin Foster: For all visa application queries the public should call the Home Office customer helpline. The Home Office service standard is to answer 80% of calls within 30seconds.Last week we answered 77% within 30 seconds with an average wait time of 1 minutes 9 seconds.We continue to work with our service provider to regularly review their performance to ensure service standards are maintained. We are working with our service provider to increase the number of staff operating the customer helpline. It is envisaged this will enable the service standard to be met in the coming weeks.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government is taking steps to support female judges, journalists and human rights activists remaining in Afghanistan who are not eligible for Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.

Kevin Foster: On 13 June, we announced the opening of the second and third pathways of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, after the first pathway opened in early January. In the first year of pathway three, the government will consider only eligible at-risk British Council, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening Alumni for resettlement.Beyond the first year of pathway three, the government will work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk. Further detail will be set out in due course.

Visas: Applications

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the average time taken by her Department to process applications under the family visa route; and if she will make a statement.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the standard of service that customers are receiving from UK Visas and Immigration; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: Average processing times do not form part of any current transparency data for family applications.The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)The Home Office has been currently prioritising Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are communicating directly with customers to explain that applications for study, work and family visas have been taking longer to process at this time. Current average processing times:Standard visitor visas - 6 weeksStudent visas - 3 weeksWork visas - 6 weeks.The service standard for overseas Marriage and Family applications has been extended from 60 days to 120 days.

Climate Change: Immigration

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of climate change on migration to the UK.

Kevin Foster: The UK recognises the need to better understand the complex links between migration, climate change and environmental degradation to inform our policy and action. All Government departments include climate change impact as part of their policy development and analysis where relevant. Initial analysis is climate change does not cause the direct migration of large groups of people to the UK but instead works in combination with other drivers, influencing individuals’ decisions to migrate and with its main impact being felt through increased pressure on existing trends.

Terrorism: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people residing in (a) Romford and (b) the London Borough of Havering are on the UK Terrorist watchlist as of 27 June 2022.

Damian Hinds: It has been the policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny matters relating to the activities of the security and intelligence services.The UK holds a watchlist of adverse information and intelligence drawn from a variety of sources, including the police. The system is used by Home Office staff for the purposes of national security and the detection and prevention of crime.

Economic Crime

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on reducing economic crime.

Damian Hinds: The detail of discussions with Cabinet peers are held in confidence. I would, however, like to reassure you that tackling economic crime is a priority for me, and the Home Secretary and I continue to work closely across Government, and with industry, including via our Economic Crime Strategic Board, to address the harm caused by economic crime to the UK.In partnership with Treasury colleagues, we are working with the public and private sectors to develop the second Economic Crime Plan. This will set out our collective response for the future to reduce the scale of economic crime. We are also developing an ambitious 10 Year Fraud Strategy. We intend to publish these later this year.

Electronic Funds Transfer: Fraud

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people affected by authorised push payment fraud committed in (a) the London Borough of Hounslow, (b) London and (c) England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Damian Hinds: Tackling fraud requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector. The Government is working with industry, including the banking and tech sectors to ensure that victims are protected from these crimes in the first place and are not left out of pocket due to Authorised Push Payment (APP) frauds.Since 2016, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and the payments industry have worked together to both prevent payments fraud, and to develop better mechanisms for reimbursing victims of APP fraud. This has included introducing the voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code in 2019. Under the Code, signatory payment service providers voluntarily reimburse APP victims. The government recognised and welcomed these developments. However, reimbursement to victims of APP scams remains inconsistent. In the Queens Speech, government announced its intention to enable PSR regulatory action by amending Regulation 90 of the Payment Services Regulations, to clarify that the PSR may use its existing regulatory powers to require mandatory reimbursement in cases of APP scams in designated payment systems.Data on the number of offences by location is not currently recorded by fraud type. However, UK Finance publish figures on the number of incidents of APP fraud for the UK each year. In 2020 UK Finance recorded 149,946 incidents of APP fraud (up 22% on 2019). Currently data is not held for the number of victims this relates to, and there may be victims who are targeted more than once. Additionally, please note UK Finance figures are for the UK and include personal and non-personal account reports.The Home Office has not provided guidance to the National Police Chiefs Council on reducing authorised push payment fraud. Reducing this kind of fraud is a complex issue, which involves a number of different sectors to work together. That is why, the Home Office relaunched the Joint Fraud Taskforce in Oct 2021. The Joint Fraud Taskforce is a partnership between the private sector, Government and law enforcement to tackle fraud collectively and to focus on issues that have been considered too difficult for a single organisation to manage alone and to drive action to design out Fraud.

Electronic Funds Transfer: Fraud

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of victims of authorised push payment frauds.

Damian Hinds: Tackling fraud requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector. The Government is working with industry, including the banking and tech sectors to ensure that victims are protected from these crimes in the first place and are not left out of pocket due to Authorised Push Payment (APP) frauds.Since 2016, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and the payments industry have worked together to both prevent payments fraud, and to develop better mechanisms for reimbursing victims of APP fraud. This has included introducing the voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code in 2019. Under the Code, signatory payment service providers voluntarily reimburse APP victims. The government recognised and welcomed these developments. However, reimbursement to victims of APP scams remains inconsistent. In the Queens Speech, government announced its intention to enable PSR regulatory action by amending Regulation 90 of the Payment Services Regulations, to clarify that the PSR may use its existing regulatory powers to require mandatory reimbursement in cases of APP scams in designated payment systems.Data on the number of offences by location is not currently recorded by fraud type. However, UK Finance publish figures on the number of incidents of APP fraud for the UK each year. In 2020 UK Finance recorded 149,946 incidents of APP fraud (up 22% on 2019). Currently data is not held for the number of victims this relates to, and there may be victims who are targeted more than once. Additionally, please note UK Finance figures are for the UK and include personal and non-personal account reports.The Home Office has not provided guidance to the National Police Chiefs Council on reducing authorised push payment fraud. Reducing this kind of fraud is a complex issue, which involves a number of different sectors to work together. That is why, the Home Office relaunched the Joint Fraud Taskforce in Oct 2021. The Joint Fraud Taskforce is a partnership between the private sector, Government and law enforcement to tackle fraud collectively and to focus on issues that have been considered too difficult for a single organisation to manage alone and to drive action to design out Fraud.

Electronic Funds Transfer: Fraud

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether officials in her Department have provided guidance to the National Police Chiefs Council on reducing authorised push payment fraud.

Damian Hinds: Tackling fraud requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector. The Government is working with industry, including the banking and tech sectors to ensure that victims are protected from these crimes in the first place and are not left out of pocket due to Authorised Push Payment (APP) frauds.Since 2016, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and the payments industry have worked together to both prevent payments fraud, and to develop better mechanisms for reimbursing victims of APP fraud. This has included introducing the voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code in 2019. Under the Code, signatory payment service providers voluntarily reimburse APP victims. The government recognised and welcomed these developments. However, reimbursement to victims of APP scams remains inconsistent. In the Queens Speech, government announced its intention to enable PSR regulatory action by amending Regulation 90 of the Payment Services Regulations, to clarify that the PSR may use its existing regulatory powers to require mandatory reimbursement in cases of APP scams in designated payment systems.Data on the number of offences by location is not currently recorded by fraud type. However, UK Finance publish figures on the number of incidents of APP fraud for the UK each year. In 2020 UK Finance recorded 149,946 incidents of APP fraud (up 22% on 2019). Currently data is not held for the number of victims this relates to, and there may be victims who are targeted more than once. Additionally, please note UK Finance figures are for the UK and include personal and non-personal account reports.The Home Office has not provided guidance to the National Police Chiefs Council on reducing authorised push payment fraud. Reducing this kind of fraud is a complex issue, which involves a number of different sectors to work together. That is why, the Home Office relaunched the Joint Fraud Taskforce in Oct 2021. The Joint Fraud Taskforce is a partnership between the private sector, Government and law enforcement to tackle fraud collectively and to focus on issues that have been considered too difficult for a single organisation to manage alone and to drive action to design out Fraud.

Asylum

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil servants delivered the training and mentoring programme for new Decision Makers; and whether those civil servants would otherwise have been processing asylum cases themselves as of 29 June.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has rolling recruitment campaigns to ensure the number of civil servants delivering the training and mentoring programme for new decision makers are maintained at appropriate levels.Those civil servants who deliver training and mentoring are separate to those processing asylum cases and would not be expected to process asylum cases themselves.

Vetting: Gender Recognition

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the policy justification is for permitting a confidential DBS checking service for transgender applicants which does not disclose details of sex; and if she will make a statement.

Rachel Maclean: Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) services require that applicants disclose all previous names and addresses so that they can process an application correctly and return accurate results.The DBS provides a confidential service for transgender applicants in order to help protect their identity, via a dedicated ‘Sensitive’ application team. This process allows applicants to disclose previous gender/name information only to DBS so that the previous names are checked, but are not disclosed on the completed certificate unless criminal record information exists in that name.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of including Afghan journalists previously employed by the BBC in the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme for British Council staff and contractors.

Kevin Foster: To qualify for relocation under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), Afghan nationals must have worked in exposed, meaningful or enabling roles in ways which made a material difference to the delivery of the UK mission in Afghanistan (e.g. linguistic services to UK Armed Forces). Eligibility for the scheme has been extended several times since it launched in April 2021 and there are no plans to extend it further. Approximately 100 Afghan journalists have been evacuated and brought to safety since Operation Pitting, in August 2021. The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. Under Pathway three of ACRS in the first year, the government is honouring its commitment to resettlement by offering places for up to 1,500 eligible individuals from the following groups: British Council contractors, Gardaworld contractors or Chevening alumni. Beyond the first year of the third pathway, the government will work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Building Regulations: Insulation

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will amend building regulations relating to external wall insulation to prevent the excessive use of sand and cement render for the final finish if doing so would conceal original and aesthetically pleasing brick facades; and if he will make a statement.

Eddie Hughes: The Building Regulations set minimum standards for the performance of external wall insulation, including safety and energy efficiency. These are functional standards which do not prescribe the particular materials to be used to meet the requirements.Permitted development regulations allow the installation of solid wall insulation without a planning application, providing that the materials used in any exterior work are of a similar appearance to those used in the construction of the existing house. Whether similar appearance is achieved is a matter for local planning authorities. Where permitted development rights do not apply, an application for planning permission will need to be made to the local planning authority.Listed building consent is required for works of alteration to a listed building where those works would affect its special architectural or historic character.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether Ukrainians resident in the UK with (a) leave outside the immigration rules and (b) asylum seekers status can transfer their residence to the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

Eddie Hughes: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Park Homes: Fees and Charges

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2022 to Question 7971 on Park Homes: Fees and Charges, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to change the annual index of park home pitch fees from the Retail Price Index to the Consumer Price Index before the summer recess.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is fully committed to changing the inflationary index for pitch fee reviews, from the Retail Prices Index (RPI) to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). We will introduce the required legislation as soon as the parliamentary timetable allows.

Parish and Town Councils

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the number of inquorate parish councils as of 29 June 2022.

Kemi Badenoch: The department has made no assessment of inquorate parish councils as of 29 June 2022. Local authorities under section 91 of the Local Government Act 1972, have the power to make an Order appointing temporary members to a parish council where, due to the number of vacancies, the council cannot function until other councillors are elected and take up office. This is to ensure that a parish council can continue to operate without becoming inquorate.

Local Government: Energy and Inflation

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the Local Government Association's analysis of the impact of inflation and energy prices on councils, published on 28 June 2022.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Local Government Association analysis of 28 June 2022 which found that rising energy prices, rising inflation, and National Living Wage pressures are set to add £3.6 billion in unforeseen extra cost pressures onto council budgets in 2024-25, what assessment his Department has made of the effects of that matter on (a) council budgets and (b) the ability of local authorities to maintain public services that are helping communities recover from the pandemic and residents cope through cost of living rises; and what steps his Department is taking to (i) tackle cost pressure on councils and (ii) maintain public services.

Kemi Badenoch: The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22.Inflation forecasts are higher than they were when the settlement was announced. How that interacts with the finances of local government is not straightforward, as not all areas of expenditure will be sensitive to inflation and local authorities may have multi-year contracts, cushioning them from this year’s inflationary increases.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Official Hospitality

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Mr Alister Jack: My Department’s spend on hospitality in financial years ending 2020, 2021 and 2022 is detailed below: YearAmount2019-20£22,142.342020-21nil2021-22£7,847.00

Scotland Office: Consultants

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in each of the last five years.

Mr Alister Jack: This Department has incurred no costs on consultancy fees in any of the last five years.

Treasury

Tax Avoidance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Loan Charge and tax years that are subject to an open enquiry, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a time limit by which all open enquiries must be concluded.

Lucy Frazer: The Loan Charge was introduced to ensure fairness for all taxpayers, including those who did not use Disguised Remuneration schemes. A time limit on the conclusion of Loan Charge related cases would not be fair or practical. HMRC is delivering a comprehensive compliance programme to support relevant taxpayers to settle their Loan Charge liabilities. The progression of this work is dependent, in part, on the cooperation of those taxpayers. When HMRC takes formal action, such as issuing a closure notice, determination or assessment, some taxpayers may want to appeal a HMRC decision or exercise their right to litigate which could take to time resolve. Taxpayers have a right to apply to the First Tier Tribunal for an enquiry to be closed. One of the grounds for making such an application is if there has been an excessive delay during which a taxpayer has not received any communication from HMRC. HMRC will continue working with taxpayers to help them get their tax right and get out of avoidance as soon as possible.

Tax Avoidance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2022 to Question 14571 on Tax Avoidance, what proportion of the individuals who have enquiries open have received correspondence from HMRC in the last 12 months, either to open the enquiry or to update them on their position.

Lucy Frazer: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that was given on 13 June 2022 to UIN 14571. All taxpayers with open enquiries should have received correspondence from HMRC in the last 12 months, either to open the enquiry or to update them on their position.HMRC wants to help taxpayers get out of tax avoidance schemes as soon as possible.

Alcoholic Drinks: Export Controls

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to help reduce the amount of forms that producers and distributers of alcohol products need to compete for HMRC when exporting goods overseas.

Lucy Frazer: The Government has produced a range of resources to help exporters, including alcohol exporters. This includes guidance, videos, webinars, and the Export Support Service. The 2025 UK Border strategy sets out the Government’s vision for the UK border to be the most effective in the world. It aims to make it as straightforward as possible for businesses to comply with customs requirements, including export processes, whilst keeping the UK safe and protecting our fiscal interests. We are embracing innovation and technology. This includes investing £180 million to build a UK Single Trade Window which will streamline how traders share information with Government.

Revenue and Customs: Repayments

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken is for HMRC to process refunds in the latest period for which data is available; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: There are many different routes that customers can take to ask HMRC for a refund, and many different types of refunds that can be asked for. It is therefore not possible to provide an answer to this question.

Members: Correspondence

Robert Largan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he will respond to the correspondence of 11 May 2022 from the hon. Member for High Peak, reference RL38613.

Mr Simon Clarke: I responded to the Honourable Member’s correspondence on 4 July 2022.

Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allocate additional funds through the Barnett Credentials to Northern Ireland to help local health departments in that country support women and girls with (a) endometriosis and (b) polycystic ovary syndrome.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Barnett formula provides the devolved administrations with a population share of changes in comparable spending by UK Government departments, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. Barnett consequentials are not ringfenced for specific policy areas. Responsibility for health and social care is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. It is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding across their devolved responsibilities. The 2021 Spending Review settlements were the largest since devolution. The Northern Ireland Executive is receiving an average of £1.6 billion per year through the Barnett formula on top of its £13.4 billion annual baseline. Over the Spending Review 2021 period the UK Government is providing the Northern Ireland Executive with 21% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Internet: Censorship

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the debate which took place at the Council of Europe on 23 June 2022 entitled The control of online communication: a threat to media pluralism, freedom of information and human dignity.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to being one of the safest countries to be online and we recognise the wider international debates taking place to address online safety. This includes the work of the Council of Europe, in particular the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, noting that recommendations will go to the Committee of Ministers in due course for appropriate review.The UK continues efforts to tackle online harm through our Online Safety Bill, and to do so in a way that defends freedom of expression and pluralism online, protecting people’s rights to participate in society and engage in robust debate online. We remain committed to a pluralistic media landscape, where people can access information from a range of sources in order to form their opinions.

Internet: Proof of Identity

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of provisions in the Online Safety Bill relating to user ID verification requirements on legitimate uses of online anonymity.

Chris Philp: The user identity verification duty in the Online Safety Bill will give users more control over who they interact with online. It only applies to high risk, high reach services. Users who do not want to verify themselves will not have to do so. This ensures that legitimate uses of anonymity are not restricted.Ofcom will issue guidance to assist providers in complying with the user verification duty. Ofcom will be required to consult individuals who represent the interests of vulnerable adult users in the development of its guidance.

Holiday Accommodation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to monitor the impact of short term holiday lets on (a) the availability of property for residential use, (b) property prices and (c) levels of noise and nuisance in local communities; and what factors she uses to monitor those impacts.

Nigel Huddleston: The sharing economy has brought many benefits to the tourism sector and wider economy, as well as creating an additional income stream for homeowners. However, we recognise that the increase in short-term letting has also prompted some concerns. These include the impact on the housing market and local communities, and a sense that new entrants in the market are not being held to the same health and safety standards as, for example, hotels and B&Bs.The Government committed in the Tourism Recovery Plan published in June last year to consult on a possible Short Term Accommodation Registration Scheme in England. A call for evidence as the first stage of that consultation process was published on 29 June and runs until 21 September.We want to hear from a wide range of stakeholders, including local authorities, in order to build a much-needed evidence base on these issues and enable us to develop proportionate policy responses. We ideally want to strike a balance between the benefits of the sharing economy and the concerns of the impacts on some communities, alongside ensuring consistency in quality among the range of different tourism accommodation providers.

Algae: North Sea

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has requested that the Natural History Museum to collect from specific incidences of algal blooms in the North Sea as part of its AlgaeVision database in (a) September 2021,(b) October 2021, (c) February 2022 and (d) April 2022.

Nigel Huddleston: DCMS-sponsored museums operate at arm’s length from the Government. The specifics of projects are therefore operational matters for museums to decide independently.The Natural History Museum has not been asked by the Government to collect any samples of algal blooms in the North Sea, nor would they have the required equipment to do so.DCMS understands that the Algaevision project is a database and virtual collection of images of freshwater and terrestrial algae collected in Britain and Ireland. The project’s aim is to digitise the current algae species already in the Natural History Museum’s algae collection. Identifying the cause of crustacean deaths is outside the scope of the museum’s work and would be better directed to one of the marine monitoring research groups within the UK, such as the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

Holiday Accommodation: Regulation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact on each sector of the differences between the regulatory regimes which apply to (a) the B&B and Guest House sector and (b) the short term holiday let sector.

Nigel Huddleston: We committed to consult on a possible Short Term Accommodation Registration Scheme in England in June 2021’s Tourism Recovery Plan.Due to the lack of robust data, firstly we want to build an evidence base about the short term tourist accommodation sector. The sharing economy has brought many benefits to the tourism sector and wider economy, as well as creating an additional income stream for homeowners.On 29 June we published a call for evidence, seeking views and data on the size and shape of the market, as well as the positive and negative impacts of short term lets. This information will enable us to develop proportionate, evidence-based policy options for future consultationThis call for evidence is open to everyone and will run for 12 weeks until 21 September. We then intend to consult on specific policy options later in 2022.

Women and Equalities

Conversion Therapy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2022 to Question 16907, whether she has held discussions about her legislative proposals on conversion therapy with representatives of (a) the NHS and (b) other signatories of the March 2022 Memorandum of Understanding on conversion therapy in the UK; if she will make it her policy to ban all forms of conversion therapy; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Freer: My officials and I have met with stakeholders from across the spectrum when developing our approach to banning conversion practices to ensure that our proposals are effective and well understood. This includes meetings with victims of conversion practices, stakeholders from medical backgrounds including signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding, as well as representatives from a range of faiths and charities, and parliamentarians.As soon as parliamentary time allows, we will introduce a Bill to ban conversion practices based on sexual orientation, while undertaking further work in relation to transgender conversion practices and delivering a comprehensive victim support service for all those affected or at risk.